Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time, comprising: a user interface used by personnel managing a crop of plants; a database comprising information, wherein said information comprises a plurality of nutrients; descriptions of a plurality of fertilizers, wherein a description of a fertilizer of said descriptions comprises a fraction of each nutrient of the plurality of nutrients in the fertilizer; and a feeding schedule comprising a sequence of times for fertilization of the crop of plants, wherein said sequence of times comprises a time unit presented sequentially at which said fertilizer is applied to the crop of plants; and for each time of the sequence of times, an amount of each fertilizer of the plurality of fertilizers applied to the crop of plants defined at the each time of the sequence of times for fertilization of the crop of plants; a processor coupled to the user interface and to the database, wherein the processor is configured to for each time of the sequence of times from said feeding schedule and for each nutrient of the plurality of nutrients, calculate a nutrient fraction of the each nutrient at the each time as a weighted average of the fraction of the each nutrient in each fertilizer of the plurality of fertilizers across the plurality of fertilizers using said information in the database, wherein a weight associated with the each fertilizer comprises the amount of the each fertilizer applied to the crop of plants at the each time, wherein the weighted average is calculated as a sum of products of all nutrient fractions from the nutrient fraction calculated of the each nutrient of the plurality of nutrients and the weight of said each fertilizer, divided by a total amount of all fertilizers applied at the each time of the sequence of times of said feeding schedule; and transmit the nutrient fraction of said each nutrient at said each time to the user interface.
2. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein the plurality of nutrients comprises: nitrogen; phosphorus; and, potassium.
3. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 2, wherein the plurality of nutrients further comprises: magnesium; sulfur; and, calcium.
4. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 3, wherein the plurality of nutrients further comprises: boron; copper; iron; molybdenum; manganese; nickel; zinc; and, chlorine.
5. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a chart of the nutrient fraction of one or more nutrients of the plurality of nutrients across the sequence of times that correspond to the feeding schedule; and, transmit the chart to the user interface.
6. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 5, wherein the user interface is configured to accept a selection of the one or more nutrients to display in the chart.
7. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 6, wherein: the selection of the one or more nutrients to display in the chart comprises selection of one or more nutrient groups from a plurality of nutrient groups; and, the plurality of nutrient groups comprises: primary nutrients; secondary nutrients; and, micro nutrients.
8. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 7, wherein: the primary nutrients comprise nitrogen; phosphorus; and potassium; the secondary nutrients comprise magnesium; sulfur; and calcium; and, the micro nutrients comprise boron; copper; iron; molybdenum; manganese; nickel; zinc; and chlorine.
9. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of fertilizers comprises water.
10. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 9, wherein: the fraction of each nutrient of the plurality of nutrients in water is zero.
11. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein the user interface is configured to accept input from the personnel to create and edit the feeding schedule.
12. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein the feeding schedule further comprises a growth stage associated with each time of the sequence of times, wherein the growth stage is selected from a plurality of growth stages.
13. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 12, wherein the plurality of growth stages comprises three or more of: a germination stage; a clone stage; a vegetative stage; a stretch stage; a stack stage; a swell stage; a ripening stage; a seedling stage; a flower stage; a grow stage; a bloom stage; a fruiting stage; and, a flush stage.
14. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein: the database further comprises a multiplicity of feeding schedule templates to create said feeding schedule; and, the user interface is configured to accept input from the personnel to define a new crop and to select a feeding schedule template to create said feeding schedule for the new crop from the multiplicity of feeding schedule templates.
15. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein: the database further comprises one or more task entries, wherein a task entry of said one or more task entries comprises a task description; an assigned person selected from the personnel; and a task date; and, the user interface is configured to accept input from the personnel to add or edit one or more new task entries; and display a calendar of assigned tasks to each user of the personnel.
16. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 15, wherein: the one or more task entries comprise feeding tasks obtained from the feeding schedule.
17. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 15, wherein: the feeding schedule further comprises a growth stage associated with said each time of the sequence of times, wherein the growth stage is selected from a list comprising a plurality of growth stages that is appropriate for the crop of plants and a duration for the growth stage for said each time of the sequence of times is selected; and, the calendar further displays the growth stage associated with each calendar time period.
18. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein: the database further comprises a journal associated with the crop of plants; and, the user interface accepts a journal entry comprising one or more of a note and a picture, and transmits the journal entry to the journal.
19. The crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to display a chart that comprises nutrient fraction trend information over time for said each nutrient fraction that is calculated for said each nutrient of said plurality of nutrients.
20. A crop management system that plans and tracks nutrient delivery over time, comprising: a user interface used by personnel managing a crop of plants; a database comprising information, wherein said information comprises a plurality of nutrients; descriptions of a plurality of fertilizers, wherein a description of a fertilizer of said descriptions comprises a fraction of each nutrient of the plurality of nutrients in the fertilizer; and a feeding schedule comprising a sequence of times for fertilization of the crop of plants, wherein said sequence of times comprises a time unit presented sequentially at which said fertilizer is applied to the crop of plants; and for each time of the sequence of times, an amount of each fertilizer of the plurality of fertilizers applied to the crop of plants defined at the each time of the sequence of times for fertilization of the crop of plants; a processor coupled to the user interface and to the database, wherein the processor is configured to for each time of the sequence of times from said feeding schedule and for each nutrient of the plurality of nutrients, calculate a nutrient fraction of the each nutrient at the each time as a weighted average of the fraction of the each nutrient in each fertilizer of the plurality of fertilizers across the plurality of fertilizers using said information in the database, wherein a weight associated with the each fertilizer comprises the amount of the each fertilizer applied to the crop of plants at the each time; wherein the weighted average is calculated as a sum of products of all nutrient fractions from the nutrient fraction calculated of the each nutrient of the plurality of nutrients and the weight of said each fertilizer, divided by a total amount of all fertilizers applied at the each time of the sequence of times of said feeding schedule; and and generate a chart of the nutrient fraction of one or more nutrients of the plurality of nutrients across the sequence of times that correspond to the feeding schedule; transmit the chart with the nutrient fraction of said each nutrient at said each time to the user interface.
Unknown
April 15, 2025
Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.